The Concept Behind the Riverfront Redevelopment

The Reimagining of Tom Lee Park is just one part of the plan

Since its release to the public a month ago, the proposal for the
redevelopment of Tom Lee Park has stirred reactions across a wide spectrum: stunning
and captivating vs. busy and well, dumb; critical to the future of the
riverfront vs. a plan that will kill Memphis in May.

Chief amongst public concerns has been just that: the plan’s
effect on the city’s annual international draw and million-dollar money-maker
Memphis in May International Festival that takes over Tom Lee Park and blocks
Riverside Drive for much of the month. BBQ Fest (The World Championship Barbecue
Cooking Contest) and Music Fest (Beale Street Music Festival) annually attracts
over a hundred thousand people from all over the globe, hundreds of chefs for
BBQ and dozens of performing artists for Music, and well over $100 million in
revenues to local hotels, restaurants, and tourist destinations.

Through the last couple of weeks of February and as of the
beginning of March, numerous groups have weighed in on their opinions of how to
address the new park plan and the annual May festivals: the Memphis River Parks
Partnership (MRPP) and designer Studio Gang, the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC),
the board of directors of Memphis in May (MIM), and the public at large via
Facebook and other traditional press and media.

On February 26 the top executives of the MRPP and MIM met and had
what was described as a product meeting. Valentina Cochran of Arch Inc., an
architectural design consultant for MIM, spent the better part of three days
finishing the design test fits that show how the new park plans can accommodate
the two primary events of the international festival. After the meeting and
after reviewing the plans, the board
of directors of Memphis in May released this statement:

“We had a very
productive meeting. Our teams will continue to work together over the next
couple of weeks to address the remaining issues with the goal of producing
these two big Memphis in May weekends in a new signature riverfront park. We
will meet again the week of March 18 and feel confident we’ll reach a solution
together that works for the community.”

Overall
Riverfront Hopes

While leadership of the riverfront redevelopment – the DMC, the
board of directors of MIM, the MRPP and Studio Gang – work out the challenges
of the current Tom Lee Park proposals into March, we thought it worth a look at
the overall hopes of reinvigorating the entire Memphis riverfront, from Martin Luther King, Jr. Park in the south
all the way to Greenbelt Park at the northwestern edge of Mud Island, as
imagined by Studio Gang.

“…the riverfront can become an amazing place and a transformational civic tool.”

Studio Gang’s published Concept
for the revamped riverfront is a description of how, “through a sequence of actionable
investments, the riverfront can become an amazing place and a transformational civic
tool—a connective network of spaces and opportunities that enrich the human
experience, lift the fortunes of Memphis as a whole, and reinforce its future
viability and resiliency.”

In developing their vision, the design team researched
Memphis history, culture, demographics, and geology, met with community
stakeholders, held specialized workshops, conducted public surveys, and
referenced goals for Memphis 3.0, the city’s brand new comprehensive plan.

They also studied previous plans for the riverfront to
identify key elements to pull into the new one. For instance, Harland
Bartholomew’s 1921 plan proposed an elevated grand promenade that would
overlook the river, as well as street widening to better accommodate vehicular
traffic. In the 1980s, the Venturi Scott Brown plan proposed putting activity
kiosks on the historic Cobblestone Landing and connecting it to Mud Island via
a pedestrian span bridge. Beale Street Landing was the result of the Cooper
Robertson plan of the 2000s, but the proposed large-scale land bridge was never
built. Each of these plans brought both good and bad ideas to the table, but
the team recognized that “examining the major urban proposals that engaged or
shaped Memphis since the city’s beginnings provided the foundation for
developing thoughtful urban principles for today’s city.”

Through this
process of engagement, research, and analysis, the team identified three core
design principles:

Foster positive encounters, civic pride and identity, and new understanding of the Mississippi River;

Restore natural conditions, native ecology, and a more dynamic relationship between people and river, and;

Connect assets along the river, the riverfront to the city (downtown and the neighborhoods beyond), and people with each other.

The Concept covers six miles of Mississippi riverfront
separated into five zones: Greenbelt Park, Mud Island, the Fourth Bluff, Tom
Lee Park, and Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Park. With the identified design
principles in mind, the plan for each zone is distinct from the next and offers
site-specific and dynamic activities, experiences, and relationships with the
river no matter the time of day or year. Zones are linked to each other as well
as with existing city attractions via improved streetscapes and pathways that
can be safely travelled on foot.

The design team analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of
each zone and carefully crafted a new vision for each:

While seasonal flooding can render much of Greenbelt Park inaccessible, it also cultivates rich alluvial soils that would support a more naturally lush park full of native species, as well as public spaces that can accommodate and thrive with flooding.

Mud Island River Park and the Mississippi River Museum are largely underutilized and disconnected from the city, but the scale model of the Mississippi River is a crowd favorite that should be preserved and enhanced in its reinvention into a destination for freshwater learning and recreation.

The hugely significant yet discombobulated series of historic sites along the river, including Mississippi River Park, the historic Cobblestone Landing, Memphis Park, the roadways leading from Riverside Drive to Front Street, and the Beale Street Corridor, must be connected and contextualized to increase foot traffic and civic engagement on the revitalized Fourth Bluff.

The Fourth Bluff

Anchored by an empty Beale Street Landing, Tom Lee Park offers a tremendous amount of open yet uniform space. Beloved during Memphis in May, the park’s riverfront edge has the potential to bring more visitors closer to the river during the rest of the year, too, with the addition of creative landscaping and dynamic amenities for all ages.

Located nearly two miles south of Beale Street Landing, MLK Park may offer the most riverfront park space, but it’s also the most physically isolated. Proper signage, a central trail system, and attractive amenities that play on its natural features, are necessary to reconnect the space to the rest of the riverfront, downtown, and South Memphis.

MLK Park – A historic park is reactivated as a new opportunity with new connections, a softer water’s edge, and structures that support festivals and community gatherings year-round.

The proposed interventions are designed in phased
layers of investment that build on each other. Smaller projects that can be
quickly realized, like seasonal plantings or pop-up programming, will support
larger projects that build on their success, such as new parks and
streetscapes, and repurposed or new buildings. Additional layers are added
according to available funds and interest, as successful short-term projects
generate further momentum and investment. We’ve already seen a few of these
smaller projects activated at the Civic Commons on the Fourth Bluff, and look
forward to continued new energy and engagement on our riverfront. Stay tuned
for plan changes and announcements as it all shakes out.

The Urban Design Review Board is comprised of a rotating group of knowledgeable Memphis citizens, architects, planners, and leaders. Reviews here do not represent support or nonsupport of said developments; rather, these are grades designed to advocate for a healthy and sustainable built environment and to help citizens understand the effects and importance of good urban planning in their daily lives.

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